How to Grow Munstead Lavender

In aromatherapy, lavender is used as an anti-depressant and digestive aid.

Munstead is a cultivar of English lavender, a perennial herb that grows from cuttings, division and seeds. This species thrives in well-drained soil and in full sun. The English lavender varieties are also cold hardy, withstanding extreme cold temperatures, such as the ones the Colorado Rocky Mountains experience in winter. Unlike most herbs, lavender requires neutral to alkaline growing conditions. In an ideal environment like that, Munstead lavender develops to produce large purple blooms.

Things You'll Need

• Trowel or shovel
• Test kit for pH (optional)
• Container
• Lime
• Measuring tape
• Gravel mulch
• Soaker hose
• Shears
• Rubber bands

Instructions

1. Collect and submit a soil sample to your cooperative extension office to test its pH or use one of the kits sold at garden supply shops. If you skip the test, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service recommends "a little lime sprinkled around the base in spring" to guarantee the soil is alkaline. If you order the test, lime the ground if the result says the soil's pH is below 6.5.

2. Space Munstead lavender shrubs 3 feet from one another. Separate multiple rows of plants by 6 feet.

3. Place a 2- to 3-inch-deep layer of gravel around the base of your Munstead lavender to reduce soil humidity, which decreases the risk of fungal disease.

4. Install a soaker hose by the base of your lavender to deliver water straight into the ground. Avoid overhead irrigation to prevent disease and to keep lavender's spindly stems from breaking under the water's pressure.

5. Adjust the moisture according to your plant's developmental stage. Irrigate the lavender with 1 inch of water a week if it's newly planted and still developing its root system. Irrigate established plants in the same manner when their flower heads begin to develop until they bloom. At any other time, water your Munstead every three weeks. In dry winters, water the plant once a month to prevent the roots from drying out.

6. Prune lavender in early spring as new leaves sprout at the plant's base. Cut the top one-third of the stems to promote new blooms, as lavender flowers appear on fresh growth.

7. Harvest lavender after half of its flowers have bloomed and before they fade. Cut the stems down to the point just below where the blossoms end. Make bundles of up to 100 stems with rubber bands and hang them upside down in the dark to dry.

References

• University of California: Lavenders for California Gardens
• Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service: Growing herbs
• Colorado State University Extension: Herbs--Growing Lavender in Colorado